Democratic governance after the end of power

Devolving power and involving citizens is the antidote to alienation of the ordinary voter. It’s a notion that harkens back to Thomas Jefferson’s vision of “district republics” that would allow communities to deal with issues in their own realm of life and competence. Only if something can’t be done at the local level should it be done at the state level; only if something can’t be done at the state level should it be done at the national level; and only if something can’t be done at the national level should it be done at the global level.

At the same time, we must delegate some measure of authority to those with experience and expertise, people who are entrusted with the task of balancing big-picture trade-offs. Society desperately needs non-partisan, deliberative institutions insulated from the direct constituency interests of electoral politics – depoliticized islands of good will – that can think through tough issues and present their conclusions to the often inattentive voter.

We need both deliberative institutions and citizen participation for good governance. The “best and brightest” and uninformed voter are both fallible – but each can help remedy the other’s shortcomings.

Every system needs circuit breakers to restore balance when things are out of whack. Financial systems need regulation to avoid bubbles. Mandarinates like China need more accountability. And consumer democracies like ours need institutions to overcome the barriers of diffused power and, when necessary, make stuff happen. The idea of combining democracy with meritocracy is not far from the vision of the American Founding Fathers, who designed institutions in their time to ward off both monarch and mob. Like the other Federalists, James Madison was clear on the need for “successive filtrations” that would refine, and not just mirror, the raw popular will. In the past two centuries, the raw popular will hasn’t led to a mob, but it has led to a system of more checks than balances.

Governance is not static. It must respond to the conditions a society faces. It is time to update the genius of America’s Founding Fathers and devise new ways to balance power and accountability. If we can’t manage to be equal to their spirit, the democracy they so carefully crafted is bound to falter.